A concert of music from the 1906 Kerekoglow collection with a slide show of the manuscript and period photos.

The concert program, arranged, performed, and narrated by Harvard ethnomusicologist Panayotis League and his ensemble, is exclusively sourced from a rare manuscript collection that was compiled in 1906 by an Ottoman Greek musician on the island of Lesvos and brought to Lynn, Massachusetts during the First Balkan War. A fascinating musical snapshot of the soundscape of turn-of-the century Ottoman Lesvos, the collection contains island dances, Ottoman art songs, European polkas and tangos, Romanian horas, and other pieces popular among the Greek, Turkish, Jewish, Armenian, and Levantine population of the island and the Asia Minor coast. This music is a timely reminder of the pluralistic character of the late Ottoman world, and a sonic memorial to the refugees who, whether in 1923 or 2016 and whether headed West or East, crossed the Straight of Mytilene in search of a safer home and a more inclusive world.

The Council of Orthodox Christian Churches of Metropolitan Detroit (COCC) will sponsor its second annual “Christ is Born! Glorify Him! A Detroit Orthodox Christmas Concert”.

The first part of the concert will feature Nativity hymns and carols from Greece, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and other lands sung by selected choirs from local Orthodox churches. The second part will feature English-language hymns sung by an inter-Orthodox chorus and a sing-a-long of popular carols. An afterglow reception will follow.

Attendees are invited to bring canned and non-perishable food for donation to Orthodox Detroit Outreach Community Pantry at Gilbert and Clayton streets.

The Faculty and seminarians of our St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary are grateful for your financial support throughout the year and we hope that you join us for the inaugural “Christmas at the Seminary”. This event is open for the whole family. There will be drop-in Christmas-themed activities, ornament making and cookie decorating for the entire family. Light refreshments will also be served.

You will have the opportunity on that Saturday to meet the current student body and also tour the Seminary and Three Holy Hierarchs Chapel and learn about the 300+ year-old building and the repairs which took place over the past year.

St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir will present a concert of hymns from the Orthodox Church’s Vigil and Divine Liturgy for Christmas. Hymns will be sung in Church Slavonic, the liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church, and in English. The concert will end with traditional hymns and carols from Eastern Slavic countries and regions.

We will take a look at what it means to be an Orthodox Christian in the technological world we live in. Matushka Ann Lardas will share a talk on “Curating the Thoughts You Share.” She is an author, substitute teacher and choir director at St. Nicholas Church in Stratford, Connecticut. Misha Moibenko will speak “On College, Keeping the Faith, and How I Almost Lost Mine.” A recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Engineering, he works for Ghost Lab Design and is a long-time camper/counselor at ORPR. We are pleased that Fr. George Lardas will also share his thoughts on “Orthodoxy and Science.” The conference will conclude with a hierarchical liturgy served by His Grace, Archbishop Peter. The conference is for college and high school youth age 14 and older.

The Winter Break is just around the corner. What are your plans? Chatting on Facebook? Texting to see what to do? Sleeping in? Shopping ’til you drop’? Well, did you hear about the Way, Truth & Life High School Girls Convention at the Southern Diocese’s own St. Stephen Christian Retreat & Conference Center in Titusville, Florida?

Make your plans to come and enjoy good times and make great memories with our amazing guest speakers, our diocese priests and lots of incredible youth from all over the Southern Diocese.

Agenda: “The Constitution, Religious Freedom, and the Right to Exclude Customers”

Bob Levy is a constitutional lawyer and chairman of the board at the Cato Institute, a prominent libertarian think tank in Washington, DC. Bob will discuss the differences between liberals and conservatives in the way they understand and apply the Constitution. This topic is especially timely with the likely appointment of new justices to the Supreme Court. Bob will then tackle an issue that’s been front-and-center in the news and the courts: Do private businesses — for religious or other constitutional reasons — have a right to deny services to their clientele? Following the talk, we’ll have time for questions from the audience.

This is a wonderful opportunity to serve and love our most needy neighbors on Skid Row in Los Angeles, CA. Junior High, High School, and College Students. We will stay and serve at the Fred Jordan Mission: www.fjm.org. The service learning weekend will come to a close following Liturgy on Sunday. Pick up will be at the Cathedral.

Hailed by critics as a “thinking” musician with engaging stage presence and a gratifying combination of virtuosity and eloquence, pianist Pedja Muzijevic has defined his career with creative programming, unusual combinations of new and old music, and lasting collaborations with other artists and ensembles. He will play works by Scarlatti, Liszt, Wagner, W. F. Bach, and Schumann, as well as selections for prepared piano by John Cage.

If you wish to subscribe to the Friends of Music, or for more information, please contact concerts@doaks.org or call 202-339-6436. Performances take place Sundays at 7:00 p.m. and Mondays at 8:00 p.m. Please note that this concert will take place in the Music Room of the Dumbarton Oaks Museum.

The Seamless Garment: Towards a Unified Model of Ministry

Every year, one of the canonical Orthodox jurisdictions hosts a Orthodox Youth and Camp Workers Conference. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Y2AM will host the 2017 conference.

We are planning on hosting the 2017 Conference in Austin, TX from January 26-28. On January 25th we plan on hosting meetings for the various Orthodox jurisdictional youth and young adult ministry directors, as a means to facilitate greater communication and collaboration. To streamline these pre-meetings, they will be reserved exclusively for the jurisdictional directors.

Diocese of Los Angeles and the West: The Seminar is open to all priests, deacons, subdeacons and readers from parishes within the Antiochian Diocese of Los Angeles and the West. Others who wish to attend may only do so after receiving the blessing from His Eminence, Metropolitan JOSEPH. That blessing should be obtained before registration as there will be no refunds given.Speaker: Archimandrite Jack Khalil, Abbot of Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal MonasteryTheme: “Saints of Antioch: Past, Present, Future”Register Online: http://antiochianladiocese.org/seminarregistration.html

Holy Fools to Wonder Workerswill feature 30 icons from the Museum’s collection that are not regularly on view. Visitors to the exhibit will be able to explore different types of saints celebrated by the Orthodox Church, from Prophets of the Old Testament to the Monastics living in rural Russia. Popular saints such as Nicholas and George will be shown alongside those who are lesser known but equally fascinating figures. There is Simeon the Stylite, who lived for many years atop a pillar, and Saint Mary of Egypt, a repentant sinner who lived alone in the deserts of Egypt.For more information:http://www.museumofrussianicons.org/current-exhibitions/

These two important Imperial Presentation icons by Faberge and Kurliukov, were created as gifts for the 1908 wedding of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna the Younger (1890-1958) to Prince Willem of Sweden, Duke of Sodermanland.

The “Feodorovskaya Mother of God” by Faberge, was a gift from the St. Petersburg Nobility Assembly, and an icon of the “Image Made Without Hands” by Kurliukov in the pan-Slavic style, was a gift from the Moscow Merchants’ Association.

These two icons represent the differences in style and political intentions of the two groups of donors. Gifts to Russian Grand Duchesses were known for their extravagance.

Holy Trinity Church will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017, and will host a free public lecture tracing its roots”. Titled “The Russian Church on the Hill: Holy Trinity Orthodox Church’s Immigrant Roots 1917-2017,” the lecture will highlight the early days of Orthodox Christianity in the Kansas City area and trace its development since the parish’s establishment 100 years ago.

Speakers include: Victoria Sherry, who directed the Heartland Orthodox Museum, Topeka, KS from 2001 to 2004 and author of a number of works recounting the state’s Russian, Serbian, Greek and Lebanese communities, who will speak on “The History of Orthodoxy in Kansas City.” Vera Konova Brown, Ph.D., a Russian heritage scholar and iconographer who is directing two grant-funded projects on the history of Holy Trinity Church, will outline the early history of the community, while Victoria Jones, a long-time member of Holy Trinity Church, teacher and religious educator, will speak about the transformation of the parish since the 1970s. Additional information is available on Holy Trinity Church’s Facebook Page.

The Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America, and the Clergy Brotherhood of the S.O.C., welcome and encourage all Clergy and Laity, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, to attend the Sts. Sebastian and Mardarije Orthodox Institute.

Rev. Fr. Vasileios Thermos, M.D., Ph.D. is a priest of the Church of Greece. Together with his priestly ministry in Athens, he is a practicing psychiatrist, and is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Psychology at the University Ecclesiastical Academy in Athens. The author of many books and articles, he has offers spiritually provocative and clinically informed programs and retreats in Greece, the United States, Albania, and Cyprus. His insights into the fields of theology and psychology are combined with a strong undercurrent in psychoanalytic thought.

Upon successful completion, and full course participation, participants will receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Institute, recognizing their continuing education in Orthodox theory and practice.?

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Upcoming Events

In preparation for the 2018 celebration of the 100th anniversary of Ukrainian Orthodoxy in the United States, the UHEC presents an exhibition documenting the lives of the Church’s prime hierarchs, the historical and cultural contexts

The Museum is pleased to announce its next exhibition–Rushnyky: Sacred Ukrainian Textiles. Opening February 15, 2018, the exhibition celebrates and explores Ukrainian culture through one of its most ancient and valued traditions. A rushnyk is

Who: Florida Servants and their families (educational child programming will be provided). No walk-ins will be accepted; you must register before the final deadline if you wish to attend Topic: I Never Knew You Guest

Emory University is pleased to host the Medieval Academy of America for the first time since 1984. The entire conference will be held and housed at the Emory Conference Center, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired building